“Trud”: “Vladimir Putin looks for vacancies”
In spite of the crisis some regions have substantially increased the salaries of civil servants and the spending on upkeep of government bodies, Vladimir Putin told a meeting on budget issues and regional development held in Kislovodsk yesterday. For the first time the prime minister was angry with the Moscow authorities, which had increased spending on themselves by almost a third.
The agenda of the meeting in the cozy holiday resort of Kislovodsk did not promise any political sensations until Putin raised the subject of saving budget money.
"In many regions the salaries of civil servants and the cost of maintaining the civil service are growing -- in 2009 they increased by an average 4%," he said threateningly, "and some regions have increased the spending on bureaucrats by more than 25%, and I will name them now." He went on to name Magadan Region which had increased "bad spending" by 38%, Novgorod Region (25%), Murmansk Region (26%), Bryansk Region (27%), Ingushetia (30%) and Adygea (24%). But the main sensation was his mention of the Moscow Government which had increased spending on its own upkeep by 27%. None of the heads of the regions named were present.
Putin noted that the regional authorities were justifying salary rises by arguing that the load on the civil servants had increased and new staff positions were being created. "I urge everyone to live within their means," said the prime minister. "And one should begin with oneself." He held up as an example the federal ministries which had cut the spending on their upkeep by 35-40%.
Putin urged the need to save budget money and said that budget deficit might go down from 7.5% to 3% in the next three years. He said that some regions were going to borrow money to patch holes in their budgets, and warned them to be careful: "You run up debts this year and what will you do about them next year? If you think that we will funnel billions of roubles to repay them, as we did for some regions this year, that may not happen."
The cost of the upkeep of federal executive bodies will be cut by 15% in 2010, said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin. "This year we will cut by 30% and next year by 15%, he said adding that "no additional financial aid will be rendered to the regions which increase spending on civil servants and the government staff."
Experts believe that Putin's critical remarks may presage a reshuffle of governors. "We have already seen the resignation of several governors and fresh reshuffles will not be anything new," says Viktor Militarev, vice president of the National Strategy Institute. Many governors thought it would be enough to fulfill the crisis management programme. "As it turned out, this is not enough," Militarev says.
In spite of the crisis it is business as usual for the regional bureaucracy, says political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin. "Medvedev names his problem regions and Putin names his," he continues. "I think more governors will be dismissed come autumn."
Figures
1 trillion roubles will be spent to support the regions in 2010
88.7 billion roubles will be disbursed from the budget to finance the employment programme in 2010
The cost of the upkeep of federal ministries and agencies will be cut by 45% in 2010
Spending on the upkeep of the regional government in Magadan increased by 38% in 2009
Spending on the upkeep of the Moscow Government increased by 27% since the beginning of the year
Andrei Kompaneyets
